He ran into a few too many blind alleys and his general passing was pretty poor at times. As I said, it was a good performance and exactly what we need from him as nobody but Messi puts in 8/10's every week but it wasn't a great performance.
9
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 49
- Goals
- 17
- Assists
- 11
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
His feet are so quick it's insane, could dribble his way out of anything.
He's genuinely brilliant. His maturity is astounding.
He's playing well and is obviously very talented but when you have certain people saying he has the potential to 'redefine the position for the modern age' you just have to laugh.
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If he continued to perform to a level where Madrid came sniffing, Madrid would have to break the £100m transfer fee barrier to even get a conversation started.
I'm mostly impressed by how calm and composed he is. Brilliant attitude.
I was really worried about this transfer. Seemed like a punt. He's continuing to prove me and everyone else wrong.. Was he this good at Monaco? His stats there were nothing really special.
Properly excited about his progress, he can be a real star
Properly excited about his progress, he can be a real star
Is there a song for him yet?
Or is everyone still spending the 90 minutes rubbing their eyes in disbelief and wiping away tears of joy.
Or is everyone still spending the 90 minutes rubbing their eyes in disbelief and wiping away tears of joy.
Keep him the feck away from Kevin Davies, is all I ask.
I wish people would stop shitting it about fecking Madrid every time we have a gem on our hands.
"There is a man, a certain man, and for the Reds you can be sure that he'll do all he can..."
Amen. Worry about things when they happen and enjoy what's in front of you!
Yep, just 'Oh Anthony Martial' to the tune of Seven Nation Army. Basically our RVP replacement
Honestly, we struck gold with this guy. I knew he was talented when we bought him, but had no clue he'd be so good already. His attitude is amazing as well.
He started last season as a bench option, it was only later in the season he became a starter. 9 in his last 12 for them is pretty dang good, especially when he often played on the wing for them.
Good to hear.
I love this left-of-field signings, reminds me of prime SAF. Him playing wing explains the average stats.. the guy is clearly a CF
Was shitting bricks when he went down for a bit. I was expecting him to be in and out of the team but, while he will need to be managed to a degree - he has got to be starting most games. Hope LVG continues to let him keep going the way he is in taking defenders on, it's so nice to have a player going direct. Other players in the squad need to get their tails up - he is going to very soon I think become the player getting the most focus from other teams - much like Fellaini got after causing all kinds of problems for the likes of City, Spurs and Liverpool. Unfortunately then, no one picked up the slack, cannot let that happen this time.
Absolute joy to see this guy play right now.
Absolute joy to see this guy play right now.
So glad we signed him under the noses of the big clubs. I am sure if we would have waited a year he would be at the top clubs around Europe. Great signing and that amount we paid (and might pay) is looking like chump-change right now! A complete striker and an attacking outlet for us. With him and Memphis getting double-marked, it is opening free space for the likes of Rooney and Mata along with our fullbacks giving more opportunities to score.
We're not Accrington Stanley, you know.
I never meant we were not. Probably I should have posted "he would be at other top clubs around Europe"
All in all I am just glad we pounced on him. Kind of reminds me of CR signing, one day you know him as an opposition in a friendly game and the next you are singing him.
During the game, I kept rubbing my eyes in disbelief. It's a fantasy.
Difference between the Fellaini one and this is that once Fellaini gets marked, there is very little he can provide except for chesting down long balls. Martial will run his marker ragged. His movement is sublime, he runs the channels well, his close control and dribbling are top notch, he has a brilliant turn of pace and his ability to roll his man is also very good. I think teams will find it very hard to mark him out of a game. With so many strings to his bow, he will cause issues irrespective of what the opposition plans for him.
Except @JPRouve, few on here had heard much about him and obviously were concerned that we were going to rely on a horribly out of form Rooney and a teenager from Ligue1 to get us goals.
I think we got him at exactly the right time. Every exceptional player has a breakout year where he actually announces himself as finally having arrived. I just feel this could be Martial's season to let the world know he is the real deal and no longer just potential.
Come on. Unfair on the kid to be compared to Messi. I understand where you are coming from but he got one assist and nearly another. His general play was also very good. You could say Blind is also a contender for MOTM but I think Martial just edged it considering his age and that he just joined our club.
Players like Young were given MOTM last season for far less.
That's not what I was doing though was it? And he was playing against the weakest defence in the league, it was between Blind and Mata for MotM. His age and inexperience make the fact he's putting in good performances even when he isn't scoring exciting, but they don't make suddenly make them great performances.
True enough but, as teams end up putting more than just one player on him, it will become quite a difficult for him to be as impactful without others stepping up is the point. Like when Chelsea put 2 people on Fellaini last year, that really should have meant more room for a few others but, the team failed to adequately capitalize on it. With Martial as you said, his movement and running of the channels will open up even more space and opportunities - hopefully we take full advantage of it.
You guys need to stop this notion that LVG prevent players from taking on defenders. It's not true and it will never be true.
We had problems against Chelsea because Carrick was injured not because they have 7 players on Fellaini.
It really is laughable that people still believe that, Depay hasn't been dropped so far and he's the one who constantly loses the ball and tries to take on defenders.
Chelsea just put Zouma on Fellaini from what I recollect and that completely neutralized his threat. If teams put more than one player on Martial then the fowards in our frontline will definitely use the extra space.
It was not a great performance but a very good one. You are entitled to your view and perhaps Blind or Mata edged it in your eyes but for many Martial provided more than them.
As for him being up against one of the worst defenses, Blind was similarly up against one of the weakest attacks and yet they had a fair few cracks at our goal. I don't see you holding that while appreciating Blind's performance. I think Blind's ability on the ball does cover up some defensive deficiencies in his game.
Immense, i love his assist to Rooney, and Deapy should really have done better when Marital put him clean on goal, because that was quite special. Also, i love that little piece of skill he shows at around 7:00. Nothing came from it, because Kaboul(?) tracked back well, but i remember getting real exited for a second there
I read someone saying his hold up play reminded them of Drogba, and his dribbling ability reminded them of Henry. Imagine if he turns into a player combining the strengths of those two
The turn that created that Memphis chance was immerse
Even he spent half season on bench and on wing, scoring 12 goals is still very good stats for a 18 years old. Rooney at similar age only scored 9, Ronaldo only scored 6, Messi only scored 8. And we are talking about the best 3 teenagers in past decade, 2 of which went on to become best goalscorer/player of all time in football history.
Here's the comparison (roughly as they are born in different months):
Ronaldo scored 6 goals in 40 games at age 18, then 9 goals in 50 games at age 19 (winger)
Messi scored 8 goals in 25 games at age 18, then 17 goals in 36 games at age 19 (wing forward)
Rooney scored 9 goals in 40 games at age 18, then 17 goals in 43 games at age 19 (no.10)
Henry scored 3 goals in 22 games at age 18, then 10 goals in 48 games at age 19 (winger/wing forward)
Martial scored 12 goals in 46 games at age 18, and so far scored 4 goals in 5 games at age 19 (winger/striker)
Of course we have others once-a-decade teenage sensationals like Owen (23 goals in 44 games) and Brazilian Ronaldo (35 goals in 36 games) who had scored alot during their teens, but they are more of a pure striker at the very beginning. Neymar scored alot too (42 goals in 60 games) but in Brazil so its hard to compare.
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That's exactly what I meant, he was comfortably one of our top three performers yesterday and as such he is a legitimate MOTM contender. And the player ratings are dependent on the teams' in the match not what Messi would have done in Barcelona, an 8/10 rating will still be found in a Sunderland v Bournemouth match as a function of how a particular player affected that said match.
You are correct in pointing out how the defense let Sunderland in on a few occasions which would count against Blind as he is part of that defense. Mata, on the other hand, was very wasteful on set pieces. So it is not ridiculous to point out that Martial's was the more complete performance without bringing his age into the argument.
I just got back from a Muse show, and kept replacing the words to the chorus of "Mercy" to "Martial."
Yep some people genuinely think LVG is preventing Rooney from beating players.
Never Wayne's fault though...
He's got full package, doesn't he? We've already known that he's pacey as hell, got great finishing, is strong, fantastic footwork and dribbling but he's surprised me with his brilliant vision yesterday and how altruistic he was. That chance he's created for Depay in the second half, he's scored with Rooney, there's probably something more that I can't remember at the moment, what a player he is. God save him from injuries and I seriously can't see him not being a huge success. Got to love him really.
- Status